Food Pyramid
Lesson 1: '''Food Pyramid '''Theme: Healthy Eating Activity: '''Morning Meeting – Large/small group activity/collaborative group work '''Class/Group: ECSE Classroom 12 students, all students are present Procedure: ' Before we begin, students will check their schedule so they have an idea of what activities they will be participating in throughout the day. This will not only make them aware of what the current activity is, but will also help with transitions, since they will know ahead of time what activities are coming up. We would begin by announcing and gathering everyone to the mat. Morning meeting will officially begin with the greeting song, we will sing “Look who came to school today”. As we sing, each child will put their picture on the wall, and then we will talk about the calendar and weather. After this daily routine, the head teacher will introduce the new theme. First we will have a discussion about what the children know about healthy bodies. Then we will read the book ''The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain, followed by a discussion of healthy eating and a basic overview of the food pyramid. Then we will discuss the kinds of food found at each level and what the triangular shape means. We will explain that the larger parts mean that you should eat more of that food each day and less of the foods found on the smaller parts of the pyramid. The children will talk about the types of food they like and what is found in their culture. (Before introducing this activity we will send home a questionnaire to parents so that they can share some healthy foods specific to their culture and their child’s favorite healthy food. We will use this information to help support the ELL students (8, 9 and 10) for example, we can ask questions like ‘9’ your mom said you like bananas, is that true?) During the group activity, we will arrange the box into a pyramid as seen above and label each section with the names of the food groups. The children will search magazines and other print materials on the internet, for pictures and cut/tear out the images. Children will work in smaller groups to sort cut outs for each food group. Then as a whole group we will glue the food of each category on to the pyramid. During the time slot for gym/outdoor activity, we can spend a few minutes dancing to the song 'Food groups are rocking tonight’. '''Materials: -Food Pyramids -4 empty boxes that are approximately the same size, 1 box about twice as long and 1 triangular shaped box made from cardboards. -Pictures of various foods as found in magazines, flyers, internet, etc. -Scissors -Large construction paper -Paste or glue -Various fruits Related Thematic Unit Objectives: ' '-'''This area targets the development of fine motor skills will be accomplished through cutting pictures from various sources and gluing it on the pyramid. -Children will also build social emotional skills by working in groups to accomplish a common goal. -The students will practice language skills through gesturing (pointing) in discussions. -The ELL students as well as the English speaking students will be exposed to new vocabulary from the reading as well as the pyramid. -Children will dance to food groups are rocking tonight which will require gross motor movements. This will help to build and strengthen those muscles. '''Vocabulary: '''Food pyramid, triangle, fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, apples, green beans, grapes, pears, eggplant, oranges, kiwi, persimmons, squash, avocado, blue potato, colors (red, orange, green purple, brown, yellow, blue), size (small/large). 'Modifications: ' 1. Students 8, 9 and 10 can identify different fruits and vegetables that the teacher presents to them by pointing. 2. Students 5 and 6 who have fine motor delays will be provided with special scissors and hand over hand assistance as needed. 3. Gloves will be provided for students who have sensory issues and may not want to get glue on their hands. 4. For student’s 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, step by step instructions will be written on the board so that children can reference and it will also be repeated for those with a difficulty in reading. 5. Children will be updated on how much time is remaining for the completion of the activity. A clap paired with a verbal cue will be used to announce the last five minutes and signal clean up to ease into the transition. 'Assessment: ' Teachers will observe children during a class activity to assess whether or not children are able to identify healthy foods and vegetables ( the teacher will have a chart with one picture of a healthy food and one of unhealthy food and lay various pictures of healthy and unhealthy foods and the children will pick a picture and place it under each category). We will look for correct identification of different healthy and unhealthy foods. '''SONG: Food Groups are rocking tonight by Brian Haner (On tape) Write the text of your article here!